Discover Strength Maple Grove

Authors of a brand-new meta-analysis published this month in the scientific journal Human Movement examined 13 studies with over 1,300 subjects and provided us with the most up-to-date understanding of spot reduction. Spot reduction involves performing exercises for specific areas of the body in hopes that we lose fat in that specific region.

The authors concluded that localized muscle training had no effect on localized adipose tissue depots, i.e., there was no spot reduction, regardless of the characteristics of the population and of the exercise program.

This week on the Discover Strength Podcast, we are continuing our mini-series with an episode on core training. When people think of core training they also often think that is the key to getting a 6-pack or toned abs. However, the appearance of toned muscles is the effect of body composition, not training a specific area of the body.

Listen today, available wherever you listen to podcasts!

Let's set the record straight: humans don’t have a “core”. When someone refers to the “core”, they are simply referring to the musculature of the torso - the obliques, abs, and low back.

Core training does not reduce abdominal fat, produce toned abs, or get you a 6-pack. Abdominal training improves strength and endurance, but not abdominal appearance. The way to toned abs is by improving your overall body composition, and strength training the entire body.

Instead of trying to do as many reps as possible (generally a good thing), or trying to perform one more rep than your last workout to achieve improvement (also a good thing), focus solely on eliminating momentum during the transition or turnaround of each rep. For example, as you lower the weight on the chest press, make your last two inches of range of motion as slow as possible, and as you change directions and start pushing the weight out, make your first two inches of lifting as slow as possible.

Transitioning slowly does three things:

1️⃣ Minimizes momentum so that more motor units and muscle fibers are recruited (this is the foundation of better results).
2️⃣Makes the exercise safer because joints and connective tissue are exposed to less force.
3️⃣Makes the exercise harder, so, you are less likely to “improve” and perform more reps. But of course, your muscles can’t count, and we don’t actually get credit for performing another rep.

In your next workout: One set at a time, one rep at a time, obsess completely with eliminating momentum during the transition of each rep (and accept the fact that you might not perform as many reps).

How does resistance exercise affect body composition compared to other modalities of exercise? Our Discover Strength Podcast Mini-Series episode this week is all about body composition. Listen today to find out more about how this topic directly links with your strength training goals.

Available wherever you listen to podcasts.

When we strength train, we add muscle to our body. The more muscle we have, the more our resting metabolic rate (the number of calories we burn all day) increases. Therefore we burn more calories at rest and store less fat as we gain muscle.

When we strength train, we increase calorie expenditure 5-9% for the three days following a strength workout. More calories burned means less stored as fat.

Total body training is key because the more muscle tissue we stress/train, the more pronounced this benefit is.

Dr. Russell Clayton asserts that exercise is one of our most effective tools for improving so-called “work-life balance.”

Learn more by signing up for weekly emails directly from Discover Strength CEO Luke Carlson in the Learning Center of the Discover Strength website!

https://bit.ly/3TcQKIR

It's hard to believe that in just eight very short months, Discover Strength Maple Grove could be recognized in such a way. Thank you so much to our clients who expressed their opinion of us this year and voted Discover Strength Maple Grove as THE BEST in Personal Training in the CommunityVotes - Maple Grove MN contest. Our Team will continue to serve this community and help everyone look and feel their very best in just a fraction of the time!

BNI Maple Grove - NW Suburban Networkers

Research is clear that the amount of weight we use and the number of reps we perform has no impact on our response (bulk or tone) to our strength training. Momentary muscle failure (whether that is with heavy or light weights, or eight, 10, or 20 reps) is the most important factor in our response.

It is easy to want to skip a workout when you are injured. The robust benefits of strength training are too important to miss out on due to an injury or musculoskeletal pain. At the same time, we don’t want to push through pain and in doing so, exacerbate an injury. If you have a localized acute or chronic injury or experiencing musculoskeletal pain during a workout, consider the following four action steps:
1️⃣Consider reducing the weight and significantly slowing down the lifting and lowering speed.
2️⃣Perform the exercise through a pain-free range of motion.
3️⃣Perform a different exercise for the same muscle group.
4️⃣Perform the exercise with the healthy limb only and receive “bi-lateral transfer.”

Strength Training when Injured - Discover Strength It's easy to want to skip a workout when you are injured, but consider these Four Strategies for Effective Strength Training when Injured